Fitch says ‘stable’ India to grow at 7.5 percent

Mumbai, Dec 7 (IANS) Maintaining a stable outlook for India, ratings agency Fitch on Monday said the country’s economy will grow by 7.5 percent in the current fiscal that will stand out globally, but warned that its business environment would remain weak despite improvements.

It has further forecast an 8 percent growth in 2016-17.

The agency said a “BBB-” rating, the lowest in the investment grade, along with a stable outlook and a strong medium-term growth prospect and favourable external finances, will balance out with high government debt, weak structurals and a difficult, but improving, business environment.

It said even as the government continues to steadily roll out its structural reform agenda, like in liberalising the foreign equity regime, it is also facing difficulty in garnering support in the upper house of parliament for big-ticket steps, like goods and services tax regime.

“India’s relatively weak business environment and standards of governance are gradually improving as a result of the pursued reforms, but obstacles faced by investors, including infrastructure bottlenecks, have not been reduced overnight,” it said.

The agency said while India’s sovereign ratings continued to be constrained by the limited fiscal space of the government, the 23.6-percent salary hike recommended by the 7th Pay Commission had raised doubts about the feasibility of the medium-term consolidation path.

On inflation, it said, India’s 7.9-percent average in annual price rise over the past five years was much higher than the 3.3-percent level among the peers with the same rating. But the changes in the retail inflation profile strengthened India’s sovereign credit profile.